What is Chordoma?

Chordoma is a rare primary bone cancer, meaning that it arises in bone (rather than spreads to bone).The bones involved are those at the base of the skull, the vertebral bodies (back bones), and the bone of the sacrum and coccyx at the base of the spine. Chordoma is thought to arise from a persistent embryonic tissue (notochordal cells), which normally disappears before birth, but can persist in some people. However, the majority of individuals with notochordal remnants do not develop chordoma. Chordoma is part of a family of cancers called sarcoma, which include cancers of the bones, cartilage, muscles and other connective tissue. Chordomas are generally slow growing, and tend to recur after treatment.

Why we are raising money for research?

Treatment options for chordoma are limited. Initial diagnosis of chordoma is often difficult as its presenting symptoms can mimic more common musculoskeletal pain or other more common diseases. Research has led to a definitive marker for chordoma, but now further research is needed to use these findings to discover how best to treat patients. There is little funding available for research into this relentless bone cancer mainly because it is relatively rare, occurring in only 1 in 800,000 of the population. Without a focused approach to raising money for research into chordoma, little will change quickly.

Who are we?

Chordoma is a rare and relentless bone cancer that can occur in people of all ages. The aim of Chordoma UK is to financially support and ensure the future of high-impact research initiatives being carried out by a team of scientists, led by Professor Adrienne Flanagan, Head of The Research Department of Pathology (pictured above) at the UCL Cancer Institute, part of University College London, one of the worlds’s leading universities.

The dedicated research team’s primary focus is to undertake ground breaking research over the next 3 years to screen 1000 drugs and compounds against chordoma tumours. This is in order to discover how this cancer can be treated, and develop effective treatments to improve the lives of chordoma patients.